Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-01-27
dUMORS OF KERRY.
Some singularly Amusing Remarks Mad
by Irish Peasants.

ny lrisu Eeashuth'
1t is popularity of the Irish peasant
that he has way of irresistibly tickling
your sense of the ridiculous just at the
very moment when you are most anx-
ious to exhibit your sympathy. Our
boatman, who lost his brother few
years back, was giving me some ac-
count of the latter's last illness, in
which he sorely tried my gravity by
saying: HE had an airy fit, yer honor,
and then, saving your presence, he was
very sick in his shtomach." What an
"airy fit" exactly means have not been
able to discover; but have ascertained
that it is a mysterious seizure, akin to
"fairy stroke" which has set some
Of us wondering whether "airy' might
not possibly be the same as "eerie. "
In some of these statements of their
ailments by the peasantry, the pictur-
esque element resides in single word.
A woman came to our door this summer,
and on being interrogated, explained as
follows: I'm a poor lame crayture,
and I've lost the footing from under
me-" More forcible was the declara-
ton made quite recently to our neigh
bor opposite, by an applicant for help:
II had three childher, yer honor; but,
by gannies, the chincough pinned wan
of themr' "While am talking of all
ments and comments thereon, can
not refrain from giving an anecdote
from another part of the country, but
which is well authenticated. A land
lefd noted for his bulk of person was
lying seriously ill, and one Of his ten
ants, who came to inquire after "the
master" was informed that he was
being kept up by the occasional admin
istration of teaspoonfuls of brandy.
Whereon he reioined somewhat con-
temptuously: TEASPOONS, is it? And
what good would tayspoon be, sthray-
ing about in such wilderness of q
manp"
The Irish peasant, though apt TO be
long winded at times, is capable on oc-
casion of summarizing the situation in
singularly terse fashion. A landlord
showed me lately letter he had re-
ceived from a former tenant, now in
Australia, in which there occurred the
following passage: 'There are more
men idle in Sydney than there is in I
= flock, looking for work and pray
ing God not to getit but loating around
from one public house to another I"
Again the expression made use of by q
Kerry gamekoeper to describe the as
cent of steep green slope-namely,
that lone was attn grass all the way
has always struck me as singularly
vivid picture of the relative positions
of climber and hillside. But fondness
for fine words and expansion is more
frequently observable than the epigram.
matte vein illustrated above. One ol
our laborers, who afterward became q
most efficient member of the London
police, went over TO Italy to join the
Pope's brigade in 1860, and on
his return presented my father
with the diary he had kept during
his absence. | have this literary
effort in my possession, and will ex'
tract from it one sentence: 1--WE
visited St. Peters Church, and l can,
presume the idea of giving an adum-
bration of its beauty" OF Irist
"bulls" | have not encountered any
good specimen of late. The story o.
the priest who prays weekly '.for tn
mainland Of Valentia and all the ad
jacent British islets is, suspect, apoc
ryphal. Finally, let me wind up m,
letter with an anecdote of an incident
which occurred AZ fire in Dublin
My brother. who was among the spec
tators, heard from time to time voic'
as of woman wandering abou
among the crowd and crying aloud i,
pitiful accents: "0ch! Mrs. Nc
Cormiek. Mrs. Mccormick" At las
the wandersr discovered the object o
her search, and as it happened to b,
in his immediate neighborhood, hi
listened with great attention to thu
urgent communication she had t
make. His feelings, therefore, may
we'll be imagined when he heard the
good lady exclaim: "0ch glory be tt
God, Mrs. Mccormick, we shall all b,
burned in our beds this night!'--Lon
don Spectator.